Keigo Higashino, Japanese mystery novelist, dies at 68

Keigo Higashino, one of Japan's best-known mystery novelists, has died of colorectal cancer at the age of 68.

Publisher Kodansha announced Higashino's death on its official website on Monday.

Higashino died early Thursday after battling the cancer, according to the publisher. His funeral took place in private at his family's request.

Born in 1958, Higashino made his literary debut with “After School” in 1985. He went on to write numerous best-selling novels, including “Journey Under the Midnight Sun” (1999), "The Devotion of Suspect X" (2005), "Laplace's Witch" (2015), "The Camphorwood Custodian" (2020) and "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" (2012). His works have also enjoyed widespread popularity in Korea.

Higashino received numerous literary honors throughout his career, including the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel in 1999, the Naoki Prize and the Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction in 2006 and the Chuokoron Literary Prize in 2012. He earned recognition for both his commercial success and literary achievement.

He continued writing throughout his illness and had been preparing to publish his new novel, "Eternal Memory," on Aug. 5.

BY KIM JI-HYE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]